The Pulpit Commentary — John — Volume 2 — Section 224

rrosperity, be&lth ohoul, a,,rcnity, f1\fcwcll. tho Fntht\r Rn,! Son would eotno 11n<l tnke Tlii• ie the sacred bostowmcnt and Diviue up their Rhodo iu tho loviug nu<I. ouc,liont lcgncv of the Lord. "Peace" is nlwBvs tho heart. Dut the Lord docs more-ho Ude rPault of equilibrated forces, tho poise of them not only to dismiss their fcnr nnd nntn1;onistic elements, held in check by ono IH1.rnssmcnt, but oven to "rcjoico." Yo ,mother. Of these the most plnC'i<I lake, hid- hcnrd the.t I said, I am departing, and in den in ihc hills nnd reflecting the annehine thnt very net, I am ooming to you. u' ye eud shadows, is II rem11.rk11blo illustrntion. So loved me, ye would have rejoioed-n sup- the pence Christ leaves is pOUJer to hold the position involving uucert:i.inty with o pros- wildest fear in pause, to atill 11. cl:i.rnonr or pect of decision. Perfect lovo would cast bush a cry-it is tbc roming of mercy to a out foor. Dut why? Because I I go to the !K'nse of sin, of life to the fcnr of dcnth. Father, the theme of tho wholo discourse. But when he added, The peaoe that is mine Dut why should this couso you to rejoice? I give to you, wo nre reminded of the tre- Beoause the • Father is greater than I ! It is- mendous conflict going on in his own nature not easy adcqnntcly to explain this memor• at that very moment, nnd of the sublime able saying. The Arians made uso of it to secret of Jesus, by which the ";u of mnn prove, from our Lord's own lips, thnt his· was brought, even in agony nnd death, into Pcr£on, even his pre-existent Divinity, was utter harmony ";th the will of God. The less than the Father's; that his essence. lI<f>I.,,µ, and Mg..,µ, of this verse show how ndmittedly generated by the Fe.ther, ll'o.s the ordinary solutation may become invested created by him, and was not the so.mo ns- with immense significance. There are mo- th1Lt of the Father. The 68me view hoe- menta when into one human word may bo been hold by the mtionnlistio eol1ool. The condensed the love of a lifetime. Christ Socinio.ns and modem Unitarians hlLVO in~ does but pom through these common words sistcd on tbo entire dependence nnd purely the fire of his etemalond infinite love. Not human character of our Lord. The Son of. as the world giveth, give I to you, both os mnn and Son of God are to runny merely the to m1Lnner and matter nnd power. The modo self-chosen tit-lee of the greatost of tho sons- of giving is real, sincere, neither formnl nor of meu, who thus is supposed lo put himself hypocritical. "I soy it, nnd I mean it." on a level with ordinary men who ruoy le11m· (lllcyer, in opposition to Godet, thinks this to ooll God their FBther. But is it? Could, unworthy of the Saviour at this moment; any man, unconscious of a fo.r closer rele.- but Godet is right.) The mntlcr, sub- tion with . God than that of the greatest stance, 'and value of the prosperity ond saint, dore to soy, as if to relieve anxiety on peace I gin stretches out into et<:mity; and that head, "My Father is grooter thnn I"? I giTJe it, I do not merely talk of it or wish Is there n.ot in the very phl'ase a suggestion it. "Christ's forcwell greeting is forerun- of Dh-ine sufficiency and relation to the ner of the beatific salutation which shall Father which altogether precludes the accompany the etemll.l meeting" (L:i.nge). purely humanitarian position? (]) A theo- Then, :returning to the Divine wordi of ver. logical view which has largely prevailed 1, he BealDll to sny, •• Have I not justified all among those who hove held the homoousia thnt I have said ?"-Let n.ot your heart be of the Father ond the Son, is that the Lord troubled, harassed by these mysteries or by was hero speaking of his hnmou nnture my departure, neither 1st U be terrified only. The Athanosian symbol says," E'}uol (o,.;,.,,&-r,.,). '.f.'his is the only place in the to the Fntlier ns touching hie Godhead, N cw Testament where the word occurs, ond inferior to the Father ae touching his though it is fOUild in the LXX.; 3•tAos Manhood." But the "I" is here used of ,mu ~•&Au&, m the sense of timidity from his whole Personality, as in eh. viii. 58; eurinaic fem, may frequently be found. x. 30, nnd throughout the discourse he is He mUBt have seen BOme rising symptoms speaking of himself in the Divine-hume.n of the carnal weakness which would pro- Person in which the eternal and temporol,- su-at.e them for a while. tbe infinite and finite, are indissolubly Ver. 28.-Now, however, he leads them a blended. (2) Others have supposed that he atep further. Thediscipleearetodismisstheir referred to himself u in a state of humilin- trouble ond fear, because (I) of the many tion. Hcngstcnberg says the Lord Wa& mansi0Il8 that he is going to prepare ; (2) be- speaking of the pre-eminent greotnese of the- cause he w88 the" Way"to the Father; (3) Fnthcr, which oome to ou end ot his de- bocolllle they hnve had a theophany in him ; parture. Cyril, Luther, !lclanethon, De (>i) becalllle they shall carry on the work of Wette, Tholock, Luthardt,and Alford think Christ and fulfil all the prophecies, (5) and 1 Elwov is omitted by B.T. and Westcot, do all this under the power of another Advo- cate or Helper; (6) ~use he. the Holy and Hort, with N, A, B, D, K, L, eto. 1 Mou is omitted by B.T. nnd modern Spirit, will indeed rereal him 88 he (Christ) .had reve~i::d the Father; nnd (7) because editors, with A, B, D, L, X . UJJ, XIV, 1-31.J THE GOSPEL ACCOP.DING TO ST. ,JOTIN. 231